TEN YEARS AGO
Friday January 27 2014
Tarbert Academy ranked fifth in Scotland for Higher results
High-achieving pupils in S6 at Tarbert Academy have helped rocket the school to fifth place in a national league table which rates schools based on students’ Higher results.
The academy, with 43 per cent of its S5 pupils gaining five Highers in 2013, was named in the top 10 best performing schools in Scotland.
The league table, compiled by a national newspaper using data from the Scottish Government, ranks state schools based on the percentage of the S4 roll who go on to pass five or more Highers in S5.
Tarbert Academy statistics show the school’s pass rate at Higher level in 2013 was more than three times the national average, where 13 per cent of students in Scotland gained five or more Highers in S5.
The average in Argyll and Bute is 13.1 per cent.
In August, the Argyllshire Advertiser reported that three of Tarbert Academy’s 15 S5 pupils were awarded A grades in their Highers. Twelve of those 15 students have continued their education into S6.
And while Tarbert’s small school roll can impact percentages, the school’s head teacher Neil McKnight states the school has consistently produced strong results at Higher and Standard Grade level.
‘We have small numbers so one pupil would represent a significant percentage. However, we consistently produce excellent results and compare well with high achieving schools in Scotland. That is not only on academic results, but across the wider curriculum. We do add value to the education of our children.’
He added: ‘It helps being a small school to establish good working relationships between staff and students. The teachers know them [students] well; they know how to get the best out of them. We have excellent staff and children to work with.’
It is hoped students in the current S5 year group will also perform well in their Highers following Standard Grade results. In 2012, 71 per cent of S4 students gained five or more credits at level 5.
The league table, created by The Scotsman, showed the highest performing schools, based on higher results at S5, were based in affluent areas with Renfrewshire Council home to the top three schools - St Ninian’s High School, Williamwood High School and Mearns Castle High School.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
Friday January 16 2004
Delilah delivered
One Lochgilphead family’s Christmas was ruined after its cat was sent to Coventry.
Delilah, owned by Lesley and David Garbutt and their children David, aged 11, Lauren, 14, and Beinn, 10, was accidentally taken away in a delivery van on Christmas Eve when a new computer was installed in the family home.
She was taken to Campbeltown, then on to Coventry and finally to Leicester. She spent five days trapped in the van after it was parked up over Christmas.
But thanks to the caring staff from the delivery and computer companies she is now home safely.
Lesley, a nurse at Mid Argyll Hospital, said: ‘She just likes a bit of love and attention. She’s great with the children and doesn’t scratch.’
She added Delilah has been extra affectionate since her ordeal: ‘It’s as if she couldn’t get any closer now.’
As Delilah is a cat who likes to wander, it was Christmas Day before the family noticed she was missing.
Lesley said: ‘Our bubble burst. Christmas Day was pretty flat.’
It was Lesley’s father Kenneth who realised Delilah must have found her way into the delivery vehicle. They phoned the company and Warwickshire Police but because it was the Christmas holidays it was Monday December 29 before the van was checked and Delilah was found.
Ray Lapidge, from the computer company, cared for Delilah at his Leicester home before one of his colleagues dropped her off back in Lochgilphead while making another delivery. She’d lost a bit of weight and was suffering from dehydration, but Lochgilphead vets say she will be okay.
The family is relieved and Delilah’s return has certainly made it a Happy New Year for them.
FORTY YEARS AGO
Friday January 20 1984
Chaos in the snow
Hurricane winds and severe snow storms brought Arctic conditions to Mid Argyll in the past week.
Blocked roads, school closures, ferry services disrupted and cuts in electricity supplies was the story throughout the area.
Monday morning brought one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent years, leaving dozens of motorists stranded with cars, vans and lorries abandoned on the Rest and Be Thankful and on the Lochgilphead to Oban road.
Many motorists trying to travel north from Lochgilphead failed to get any further than Kilmartin, until a snowplough working between Lochgilphead and Arduaine came to the rescue.
A convoy of cars, vans and lorries followed the plough but even travelling behind the plough became difficult because of the constant heavy snow.
One lorry went off the road into a ditch at Sallachry but fortunately there was enough space to allow the plough and following vehicles through.
Most of the convoy reached Kilmelford but once again they were stranded as the Melfort Pass was blocked by cars and lorries.
Conditions on the pass were the worst experienced for many years. Motorists and lorry drivers joined forces with shovels and began digging cars out and pushing them up the hill in an attempt to open the road.
Meanwhile snowploughs were working non-stop to keep the road open. The story was the same throughout Mid Argyll with many minor roads blocked by drifting snow or just possible with the greatest care.
A party heading for Islay were unable to reach Kennacraig having driven as far as the Rest and Be Thankful only to find it blocked.
One section of the community who perhaps welcomed the bad weather were schoolchildren who were sent home.
Schools in Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay were affected, with Lochgilphead High School and Tarbert Academy closed on Monday afternoon.
A young mother travelling by ambulance from Mull to the Vale of Leven had to complete her journey by helicopter from Inveraray as the Rest and Be Thankful was closed.
A number of social functions planned in Mid Argyll over the weekend also fell victim to the weather.
A Parent Teachers evening scheduled to take part in Lochgilphead High School on Monday evening had to be cancelled and Comunn Gaidhealach Loch Fin had to postpone its Old New Year’s Ceilidh on Saturday evening as the artistes due to travel from Oban were unable to make the journey.
A couple celebrating their golden wedding in the Argyll Hotel, Lochgilphead, were unfortunately without the company of two of their daughters, one from Leeds and one from Inverness. Both were prevented from reaching Mid Argyll by the severe weather conditions.
SIXTY YEARS AGO
Tuesday January 21 1964
Argyll Estates employee for 32 years
His many friends regret the passing of Mr Neil Edward MacGugan, Arkland, Inveraray.
A native of the burgh, Neil had been employed in the Argyll Estates Office for 32 years.
During the war he served in the Merchant Navy.
A keen sportsman, Neil was an outstanding member of Inveraray Shinty Club and took part in the cup-winning triumphs of 1925, 1926 and 1930.
He was Master of his Lodge, Inveraray St John No. 50, 1956/58.
A large number of mourners attended the funeral on Saturday at Glen Shira Cemetery. Services in the church and at the graveside were conducted by the Reverend D W MacKenzie. Pipe Major R MacCallum played the ‘Flowers o’ the Forest’ at the graveside.
Lochgilphead ceilidh to be broadcast
Intimation has been received from the BBC that a ceilidh recorded at Argyll and Bute Hospital, Lochgilphead, on September 10, is to be broadcast on the Scottish Home Service on Monday January 27 from 7pm to 7.30pm.
The ceilidh was sustained mainly by Mid Argyll artists including Lochgilphead Gaelic Choir and Mod Gold medallists Mrs McWhirter (Rose McConnachie), Ardrishaig, and Donald MacInnes, now of Glasgow but formerly chief male nurse at Argyll and Bute Hospital. The Reverend D MacKenzie, Inveraray, was fear an tighe.
The ceilidh was recorded by the BBC as part of the hospital centenary celebrations.
No aid for Saint Catherine’s ferry
Despite a request by Inveraray Town Council, Argyll County Council has turned down an offer to operate the ferry service between the county town and St Catherine’s.
And a recommendation of the piers sub-committee that the subsidy, which was discontinued when the ferry service was suspended on October 1, should be permanently discontinued has been approved by the county council.
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